Turner will join forces with Danish pair for new assault

In a revised driver line-up, three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Darren Turner joins Danish pairing and former GTE Pro champions Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen in #95 ‘Dane Train’ machine while new signings Maxime Martin and Alex Lynn will share the #97 entry with 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours GTE Pro winner Jonny Adam.

In addition, the ultra-successful trio of Paul Dalla Lana, Mathias Lauda and Pedro Lamy will return to defend their GTE AM world championship title in their trusty Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GTE.

The strength of talent within the crews reflects Aston Martin Racing’s intent to hit the ground running with the new Vantage, and the seriousness with which it takes the level of competition in the GTE Pro class in the FIA WEC. The GT categories are now the most populated with manufacturers in the series, with no less than five represented in GTE Pro.

All six drivers have played a role in the extensive development programme of the new Vantage GTE which has now clocked up more than 10,500 miles of testing over the winter. Having focussed on durability for much of this time, the team is now working on the performance and tyre development phase of the programme ahead of the WEC Prologue at Circuit Paul Ricard in April.

Team boss Paul Howarth said: “The FIA has reinvested in the World Endurance Championship, which is going to offer Aston Martin Racing the challenges it looks for when competing in the top level of motorsport.

“Our heritage in the sport and our track record shows that we are all about delivering race wins and championship titles. We look forward to fighting for both format, which also offers us the opportunity to return to Sebring in America and race at great circuits like Silverstone and Spa.

“We are expecting the competitiveness of the GTE Pro category to be at the highest level ever with a massive talent pool of drivers as well as leading car manufacturers.”

Managing director John Gaw added: “Our successes with the previous car were documented on the global stage from our first race at Sebring in 2012 through to scoring the GTE Pro class win at Le Mans in its final season. We hope to replicate this success in the car’s final year in the AM category as a fitting send-off.”